Women's Basketball

Women's Basketball Falls at Rhode Island College, 64-41

PROVIDENCE, RI-Host Rhode Island College outscored the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's women's basketball team in the second half, 34-17, and went on to defeat the Corsairs, 64-41, in the first game of a Little East Conference doubleheader at the Murray Center Tuesday evening.

The Anchorwomen used a 10-3 run at the start of the second half to open up a 14-point advantage, then steadily increased their lead as UMD could not get closer than 11 points.

RIC took an early 10-2 lead in the first half, but the Corsairs battled back. A lay-up by freshman center Colleen Moriarty (Canton, MA/Canton HS) cut the lead to 18-15 with 7:38 left in the first half, and junior forward Tashauna Ashmeade (Hyannis, MA/ Barnstable) hit a lay-up with 4:50 remaining to make it 23-21. UMD got a jump shot from sophomore guard Stephanie Houtman (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford HS//Bridgewater State) and a free throw from Ashmeade as the Anchorwomen built their lead back up to six points at halftime.

Junior guard Lynley DeAmato (Melrose, MA/Melrose HS) led the Corsairs with eight points. Stephanie Coro led the Anchorwomen with a career-high 33 points, while Rachel Riley added 12. Ashmeade, senior forward Kaylin Nelson (New Bedford, MA/ Salve Regina) and freshman guard Nicole Marotta (Bridgewater, MA/Bridgewater-Raynham HS) each had four rebounds for UMass Dartmouth. Riley led RIC with 14 as the Anchorwomen out rebounded the Corsairs, 51-33, and made 42.1 per cent from the field to 24.1 per cent for UMD.

"We had chances early in the game," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Amanda Van Voorhis. "We were only down six at the half, and we could have been ahead if we had converted lay-ups. We must have missed 10 lay-ups. We didn't do a good job on Stephanie Coro, and we shot poorly for the game. We didn't play good defense in the second half, and we ended up fouling too much."

The Corsairs dropped to 7-11 and 2-6 in the Little East Conference with the defeat, while the Anchorwomen improved to 11-7 and 3-5 in LEC play with the victory. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host Salem State Thursday evening.